<p>I appreciate the comments guys. I want what’s best for my daughter, of course, but I want to make an informed decision too. Just getting a referral to an oral surgeon with the dentist saying she needs to have them out, isn’t enough for me. I will try to explain that to him, and ask to see the xrays. I want his explanation of why he thinks they should be removed. I’m obviously not an expert at reading xrays, but I think I’d be able to see if one or more is coming in crooked, or under, or partially under a 2nd molar.
It’s putting her under anesthesia that bothers me most, because of the possible complications.</p>
<p>We’ve had many wisdom teeth out in our family and no one used general anesthesia. I wouldn’t know whether there might be situations that require it, but in our family, at least, those situations haven’t come up, local anesthesia has been used, and everything has been fine.</p>
<p>It’s always best to be conscious for any dental procedure but sometimes not recommended for long,complicated procedures. The degree of impaction may indicate the need for sedation vs. local anesthetic. You may wish to consider local anesthetic with nitrous oxide rather than full sedation. The depth of anesthesia is for the patient’s benefit;surgical removal of full boney horizontally impacted molars is gruesome,bloody and noisy and most patients would be best to be asleep! I,myself,had 4 premolars and all wizzies removed under i.v. sedation. Balthezar, meet with the O.S. and ask about the necessity for removal. If possible, have them removed under local anesthetic with gas. Otherwise,insist on light i.v. sedation.</p>
<p>My S has two wisdom teeth, and the dentist referred him to an oral surgeon for a consultation. When I called to make the appointment, I was told there was no need for a consultation because extraction was always necessary, so the receptionist just wanted to schedule the surgery. Don’t think so. They’re not causing S any problems, so he’s keeping them.</p>
<p>My orthodontist had four of my molars removed and said I should probably have room for my wisdom teeth. They came in when I was in college. I finally had one removed a few years back when the filling in it fell apart and the dentist thought it would be too hard to repair. </p>
<p>My mother had a dentist who told her she should get her impacted wisdom teeth out when she was in her 40s because what if she had a problem while she was in Africa. My Mom figured it was a pretty low probability and as far as I know 30+ years later she still has her impacted wisdom teeth.</p>
<p>I have all my wisdom teeth too, but went along with our dentist when he recommended oldest D get all 4 of hers out before they erupted. Now with S, 2 of his never developed, one came in just fine, and he said the x-ray shows the last may become impacted, but then again it may come through just fine, so we are going to wait and see what happens. There is room in his mouth for it. It is hard to know what to do, I don’t like the thought of surgery just in case something could happen. The OP at least should be shown the x-ray with the explanation.</p>
<p>I just had my wisdom teeth out as a recent college grad… I have heard of some people not needing theirs out, and for a long time my dentist put off having me get mine out as it looked like I’d be one of them. However, here is what I think…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If one needs to come out, get them all out. The last two weeks have been hell and I would not ever want to have to do it again. I had two out non-surgically and it was easy, as they’d come in properly and weren’t problematic RIGHT AWAY (did become problematic when they hyper erupted), but the last two were surgical and it was awful. I wouldn’t mind doing it the way I did again so I only had to deal with two at a time, but I’d never have the SURGICAL procedure more than once. I had a relatively easy recovery but on the harder days I only got through it with the knowledge that I’d never have to do it again.</p></li>
<li><p>If there’s any reasonable chance of them needing to come out, I would get them out while there are still things like summer breaks to utilize. Trying to deal with scheduling surgery with a full time job was horrible and stressful, and if I’d gotten dry socket I could have lost my job if I couldn’t get the logistics of going in for dressing changes to work with my work schedule. It was terrible. If I’d been on the job for years maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad, but as a new employee I really just don’t have the luxury of taking off for these things.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I agree that you don’t have to trust the dentist blindly with this decision, but I would at least consider having them out if the dentist is foreseeing problems in the future. It is easier to deal with these things now than when your D is in the workforce. </p>
<p>A final thought on anesthetic— I think it depends on the person. I was awake and numb for my non-surgical procedure, and I was out for the surgical procedure. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I am sure I wouldn’t have felt much if any pain if I’d been awake, the numbing drugs are fantastic, but I still remember smelling the blood that was pouring into my mouth during the first procedure… there are some memories you just don’t need, in my opinion. If the idea of going under bothers you then it may not be necessary, but I’d leave that between your D and her surgeon. I think that’s a very personal decision.</p>
<p>Versed is a wonder drug, IMHO, a mild sedative providing amnesia, good when the patient needs to be somewhat awake and cooperative, but there’s no memory of anything uncomfortable. It was great for my tooth implant surgery and colonoscopy.</p>
<p>I never had a wisdom tooth removed. I should have. The two lower ones are not straight, and by that I mean they are angled forward and grew into the teeth in front of them. Viewed from the side on an X-ray, they look like they “fell over”. </p>
<p>If you have this kind, you should definitely get them removed when you are young. You can see it clearly on an x ray, and you don’t have to be an expert…just have a little common sense.</p>
<p>Mine ended up requiring two root canals years later, and a bizarre procedure to remove part of one the wisdom teeth as an alternative to complete removal. I decided that at my age it was too risky to have nerve,bone, or other complications from a removal. It would not have been an issue before age 30, I think.</p>
<p>My Dd had her wisdom teeth removed (she only had 3) last summer when she was having another oral surgery procedure done. They were growing in sideways and since she was under already and would have a complicated recovery, we opted to just do those as well. I had mine out when I was about 24, DH was about 28. The rest of our kids have not been referred for removal yet.</p>
<p>I had mine taken out the summer before senior year of high school. Dentist recommended doing it since x-rays weren’t showing good things - impacted and sideways. Did it through a oral surgeon. Had a pre-procedure appointment for direction, went in a week later, and had a post-procedure appointment to check up on things.</p>
<p>I was beyond loopy according to my parents. They had serious trouble getting me from the oral surgeon’s office to the car and then from our car and up a flight of stairs to my bed. My memory is getting an IV in my arm and then waking up in my bed at home. Did the soft food thing, took the meds at all the right times, and slept a lot. Watched 3 seasons of Lost. </p>
<p>I say get it done before college because at that point you are going to start pushing things off and then it will never happen.</p>
<p>I got mine out the summer before I went off to college. My 2 teeth (I was born with only 2) were coming in sideways and were fully impacted.</p>
<p>I did get dry sockets and an infection, but that’s most likely because I was more lax than I should have been about swishing with salt water. Also, the strong pain pills they gave me were not all that strong, so you may want to check what they give based on past pain tolerance.</p>
<p>Don’t wait to get them out; it’s a drag enough when you’re a teenager, but at least then it’s over with.</p>
<p>I still have my wisdom teeth, but I had four bicuspids pulled when I first began orthodontia, when I was about 10.
H had his out when he was 19, d1 had three pulled when she was 19 & d2 had three pulled during spring break a couple weeks ago.( she is 21)
She didn’t have them taken out until she began having problems, & it would have been easier if we had done it last year, but I am glad we didn’t wait any longer.</p>
<p>She is planning to go into the Peace Corps, so she would have needed them out anyway.
Both the military & peace corps require you to have them pulled before admittance as you don’t want to have to deal with that if they start causing problems.</p>
<p>No, they don’t preemptively remove your appendix or spleen, but those don’t cause the same problems without something else occurring, the way that wisdom teeth do.</p>
<p>@vonlost, Versed is a dangerous drug, imho. While effective for many patients, ten percent are prone to “paradoxical effects,” including intense anxiety, panic attack, seizure, hallucinations, longer-term memory loss and psychosis. Doctors love it because, given that it’s an amnestic, it invalidates a patient’s testimony should anything go wrong.</p>
<p>Used on almost ALL ICU patients these days – and a probable cause of the ICU psychosis all the nurses chat about – as if a few days in a hospital setting can spontaneously induce psychosis! Many anesthesiologists avoid Versed when it comes time for their own surgical procedures.</p>
<p>Google “Versed adverse effects” before ever consenting to this drug. There are alternatives.</p>
<p>Wow. My Stanford doctor friends who accept Versed as patients should find out about this! 
Actually, I asked if they accept it, and the “amnesia” doses are small enough that they’re not concerned. But thanks for the heads up!</p>
<p>My son got his out as a HS senior. Poor kid, he has a bleeding disorder so he wasn’t allowed to take anything to relieve the swelling (because it would thin his blood at the same time, affecting clotting). So he looked like a chipmunk and was in a LOT of pain. He missed almost a week of school. His younger brother and sister also have the disorder. The dentist will have to present overwhelming evidence for me to consider having them get their wisdom teeth out!</p>